Refrigeration



Nov. 20, 1928. 3 1,692,791

v A. LENNING REFRIGERATION Filed Sept. 9, 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 IN NTOR 17/044 h ATTORNEY Nov. 20, 1928 1,692,791 A. LENNING REFRIGERATION Filed Sept. 9, 1927 s Sheets-Sheet 'gik \& g 56 /J g 5' 1* K3 /7 25' l? 30 2 g 1 :&

INVENTOR a WW I BY {4 iv/WM ,0; ATTORNEY Nov. 20, 1928.

A. LENNING REFRIGERATION Filed Sept. 1927 3 Sheets-Sheet INVENTQR p ATTORNEY Patented Nov. 20, 19 28.

,. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALVAR LENNING, OF NEWBUTRGH, NEW YORK, ASSIGNOR '10 ELECTROLUZ SERVEL CORPORATION, 01 NEW YORK, N. Y., A. CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

' REFRIGERATION.

Application filed September 9, 1927. Serial No. 218,418.

My invention relates to refrigeration and more particularly to the construction of evaporators or chilling units for refrigera-' tion systems or machines. One purpose of .the, invention is to provide an evaporator which has large heat transmission area,;1s compact, neat, eflicient and durable wh1le easily assembled-and the parts of wh ch are securely combined. Another ob ect 1s tc provide a novel ice freezing and dessert chilling arrangement, the advantages ofwhich will become apparent as the descriptionproceeds. The invention is included in the structure shown by way of example on the accompanying drawings, of which: Fig. 1, is anelevational view, partlybroken-away and partly in cross-section showing an evaporator built and assembled according to the invention and situated within a refrigerator cabinet; Fig. 2 is a top view, partlyincross-sectibn, taken on line 2-2 of Fig. 1;* and Fig. 3 is a top view, partially in cross-section, of a somewhat modified form of-evaporator casting.

Reference character 10 designates the evaporator generally. The term evaporator is here used as a general term for the combined arrangement of a receptacle in which evaporation or boiling takes place and a surrounding structure for transmitting heat, the ensemble being otherwise known as a chilling unit. The evaporator is situated within a refrigerator cabinet 9, suitably insulated. The evaporator shown is particularly adaptable for use as part of an absorption type refrigerating apparatus such as shown and described in. Patent No. 1,609,334, granted December 7, 1926, though it is not limited to such apparatus.

The evaporator comprises a shell 12 of cylindrical form with rounded ends and a surrounding casting 8, which latter is preferably, though not necessarily, constructed of aluminum. Shell 12 is arranged with its axis extending vertically and is connected to and supported on a heat exchanger 32 which ex- .tkendshoriiontally through and is supported by the cabinet wall and is suitably connected toremaining parts of the refrigerating apparatus. Shell 12 is made of steel to withstand .high'internal pressure. It. is supplied with liquid refrigerant, such as ammonia, through, conduit 13 and with a gas, inert with respect to the refrigerant,'such as hydrogen,

through conduit 14. Conduit 13 passes with:

in conduit 14 and within heat exchanger32. Conduit 33 connects the bottom of shell 12 with one space of heat exchanger 32 and conduit 14 -is connected to a space of the heat ex-- changer separated from the space to which conduit 33 is connected. The shell 12 is provided internally with a vertically disposed series of horizontaldisks 15 provided with apertures 16 and 34 for flow of gas and liquid respectively.

Heat transmitting member 8, preferably a casting, comprises a box-like. compartment 20 formed by vertically extending straight side walls 36, a vertically'extending back wall v 37, and plane top and bottom walls 38 and 39. This compartment is opento the front of the cabinet and has transversely extending shelves 21 dividing the compartment into a plurality of relatively narrow spaces 41, each substantially filled by one of a series of given size ice trays and a larger space 42 at the top large enough to accommodate two of the given size ice trays, one above the other. The-ice trays are indicated by dotted lines 44. Space 42 has in it a pair of ledges 24 attached to side walls 36. These ledgesextend horizontally and serve as hangers for an .ice tray,

the ice trays having outwardly bent edges for this purpose, as indicated. Space 42'is suf of partial cvlinder form and integral with the casting. These bent arms encircle shell 12 and approach but do not touch each other on theside of the shell opposite the box-like compartment 20. To the outer ends of arms 46 and 47fare afiixed flanges 17; The flanges may extend the entire height of the-arms 4B and 47 or to a point below the upper horizontal part of conduit 14, as shown. A plurality .of holes areformed in flanges 17 through which bolts 18 are passed, which, when tightened by nuts, serve to draw the flanges toward each other and to securely clamp the heat transmitting casting 8 around the shell 12.

.The arrangement is suchthat when bolts 18 are drawn up tight, there is still space 56 lieftween the flanges so that there is an internal stress in the metal of the arms 46 and 47.

The insideof arms 46 and 47 are provided with vertical grooves 19. These grooves increase the" flexibility of the clamping arms and serve as drain passages for condensate.

A front vertical wall 26 is cast integral with box-like compartment 20. Wall 26 serves to improve the appearance of the evaporator byconcealing arcuate arms 46 and 47 and bolts 18. It also increases the heat transfer surface of the casting. The surface is further increased and the casting strengthened by a side vertical wall cast integral with front wall 26 and arm 47. A web member 27 also extends between wall 26 and arm 47 and forms, in part, vertically extending passage-.-

ways 28 and 29 thrdugh which air may circulate. The surface of the casting is still further increased by vertically extending fins 30 on walls 26 and 25, arm 46 and one side of box-like compartment 20.

The evaporator assembly 10 is supported partially by heat exchanger 32 and partially I by a plurality of brackets 45.

' The low. temperature maintained within evaporation chamber 12 by reason of the evaporation of the refri erant therein causes heat to flow thereto rom casting 8. The casting is thereby maintained at a .low temperature and in turn absorbs heat from the water placed in ice freezing trays 44 and from partment 20 ,rather than all the way across the compartment. Because of this formation of shelves 50, ridges and drain'holes are not required except in 1 the bottom wall 39 of the compartment which is provided with two parallelridges eaand two drain holes31.

Arcuate arms 46 and.47 arecast integral with compartment 20. Arm 46 has a plurality of holes 51 formed therethrough near its outer end while arm 47 has corresponding holes 52 threaded and extending only part way through thearm.' Bolts (not shown) passthrough, holes 51 and screw into holes 52 and serve to .draw arms 46 and 47 toward each other in order to clamp the casting to a cylindrical evaporation chamber, as is designated at 12 in Fig. 2.

A pluralityo'f fins 30 are cast integral with arms 46 and 47 and the front of compartment encirclin 20. Fins 30 serve to increase the surface of casting 8 and thus increase the rate of heat transfer between the surrounding air and the chilling unit. A number ofvertically extending grooves 19 are formed in the inner faces of arms 46 and 47 for the reason explained in connection with Figs. 1 and 2.

While I have shown specific embodiments of my invention, it is to be understood that variations in structural design fall within its scope. For instance, box-like compartment 20 may be designed with two .large spaces and one small one, both, large spaces being provided with a pair of ledges similar to ledges 24 (Fig. 1) or the compartment may be made large enough to comp-rise three large spaces or any combination of large and small spaces that is desired Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet, an evaporator within said cabinet, said evaporator comprising a shell, a heat transmitting casting comprising a box-shaped portion adapted to hold ice trays, a plurality-of arms extending from said box-shaped portion and said shell, and tightening means for drawin said arms toward each other.

2 A refrigerator comprising a cabinet, an evaporator within said cabinet, said evaporator comprising a shell, a heat transmitting casting comprising a box-shaped portion adapted to hold ice trays, a pair of arcuate members extending laterally from said boxshaped member and encircling said shell, and means for drawing the pair of arcuate members toward each other to stress them against the shell. I

3. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet, an evaporator within said cabinet, said evaporator comprising a cylindrical shell-having a verticaLaxis and supported by said cabinet, a heat transmitting member comprising a box-shaped portion having walls forming a compartment adapted to hold ice trays, a set of bent arms extending laterally from said .box-shapd portion and encircling said shell,

flanges at the outer ends of said arms, and

means to draw said flanges toward each otherl 4. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet, an

eyaporator within said'cabinet, said evapoa.

rator comprising a cylindrical shell having a vertical axis and supported by said cabinet, a heat transmitting member comprising a box-shaped portion having walls forming a compartment adapted to hold ice-trays, a set of-Qb'ent arms extending laterally from said box-shaped portion and encircling said shell,

flanges at the outer ends of said arms, holes in said flanges and bolts extending through said holes for drawing said flanges toward.

each other, the arrangement being such that the flangesare separated when the bolts are I drawn uptight.

5. An evaporator comprising a shell a heat transmitting member comprising a boxshaped portion having Walls forming a compartment for ice trays, a setof bent members extending laterally from said box-shaped portion and encircling said shell, flanges at the outer ends of said bent members and tightening' members extending through said flanges for drawing said bent members toward each other. a

6. A refrigerator comprising a cabinet, an evaporator Within said cabinet, said evaporator comprising a steel shell, 21 heat transmitting member of relatively light material comprising a box-shaped portion having walls forming a compartment adapted to hold ice trays, a set of bent arms extending laterally from said box-shaped portion and encircling said shell and means for drawing the bent arms together.

7 A refrigerator comprising a cabinet, an evaporator Within said cabinet, said evaporator comprising a steel shell, a heat transmitting member of relatively light material comprising a box-shaped portion having Walls forming a'compartment adapted to hold ice trays, a set of bent arms extending laterally from said box-shaped portion and encircling said shell, flanges at the outer ends of said arms and means to draw said flanges together.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aifix my signature.

ALVAR LENNING. 

